China-Born Crypto Mogul Justin Sun Tries to Allay Doubts as Huobi-Linked Bet Frays

Suvashree Ghosh, Bloomberg News

Justin Sun Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The enigmatic crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun tried to clarify the hazy outlook for Huobi Global, a major digital-asset exchange, as the platform’s native token struggles despite a wider rally in virtual coins.

The company isn’t seeking to sell a stake in the business, the 32-year-old wrote on Twitter on April 1, following a Bloomberg News report that Sun had sounded out potential investors in past weeks.

Huobi aims to provide “a safe, reliable, and innovative platform,” he added.

Sun’s links to Huobi have stirred more questions than answers in a digital-asset marketplace scarred by past collapses of opaque crypto venues.

He says he’s an adviser to the company and that he doesn’t own any stock in it, yet he’s used about $200 million of his own wealth to help prop the platform up this year. Bloomberg News reported in November that Sun paid about $1 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Huobi through Hong Kong-based asset manager About Capital. Sun denies owning a majority stake.

China-born Sun’s stance on crypto demand on the mainland, which outlawed digital-asset trading over a year ago, has also stirred controversy.

HT Investment

Sun said in October last year that he owns “tens of millions” of Huobi’s native token, HT, describing himself as one of the coin’s biggest holders globally. He’s also the founder of the Tron crypto business.

HT has sunk about 28% in 2023 despite a wider rally that pushed a gauge of the top 100 tokens up some 45% over the period.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission in March sued Sun for allegedly violating securities rules, accusing him of breaking anti-fraud and market manipulation regulations. Tron’s native coin TRX is at the heart of the allegations. Sun tweeted at the time that the suit “lacks merit.”

Last week, Sun on Twitter offered to buy over 41,000 of seized Bitcoin the US government plans to sell this year. He said he’d like to buy them at a 10% discount in an over-the-counter deal to “minimize the potential impact on the market.”